In addition to APTA sanctioned events, local and regional tournaments, which often supported a charity, and social get-togethers at the clubs became increasingly popular. Playing for recognition, rather than for money, was the order of the next dozen years until the Lineal Group stepped in briefly in the early 1990s to underwrite a series of events called the Lineal Group Grand Prix.
Read MoreThe APTA offered players an opportunity to use January and February as a 60-day trial period to test a two-serve option at different playing levels in various club events. Feedback via Platform Tennis News was requested. The May-June issue of the magazine carried the results. There were 19 yes votes to change to two-serves, and 141 voting no, indicating strongly that the change was not favored. Some of the reasons were: .....it would ruin the game. We don't want it like tennis .....leave the game alone, it is an amateur's game enjoyed as is .....how about two returns? Source: Platform Tennis News, November 1981 and May-June 1982
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Moses was one of the earliest good “young” players of the game in the early 1940s and ‘50s. He had been the #1 ranked junior tennis player in the nation and, at nineteen, he was the youngest person ever to be a finalist in the APTA National men’s doubles. He won the APTA Men’s doubles title at the age of 23, again the youngest ever to attain that distinction. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1976. At the time of his death after a long illness, John had retired to East Boothbay, Maine, in the same area where his family had summered for several generations. Source: Platform Tennis News, January 1982
Read MoreIn Denver, the “Mile High” city, platform tennis had found a new frontier and was slowly but steadily increasing in popularity. In addition to courts at two clubs and several private courts, more were being planned at a third. All of these facilities were within fifteen minutes of each other, making future tournaments more feasible. Sally Burbank of Englewood, Colorado, had given much of her time to teaching and promoting platform tennis, free of charge. Source: Platform Tennis News, February 1982
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Of the 211 APTA Championship tournaments held for adults through 1982, Fox Meadow players had won 79.
Read MoreA platform tennis enthusiast and owner of Peters Creek Paddle Club in Library, PA, F. Jay Smith had given a great deal of study to the subject of the platform tennis serve. The APTA Board decided that his thoughts and his proposal for change merited consideration, and solicited feedback through Platform Tennis News. Smith’s analysis suggested that the service box be lengthened a minimum of 6 inches and perhaps as much as 9-12 inches. He argued that the current size of 12' x 8' was too confining and, since it was possibly arrived at arbitrarily, it should be subject to change. Of the more than 2,500 copies of the newsletter mailed to the membership, seven were returned to the APTA Office: five in favor of lengthening the service box, and two opposed. Based on such an underwhelming response to the proposal, the Board determined that there was not enough interest to warrant further [...]
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Maier was not content with just playing and teaching the game. He was an innovator, with a US patent (US4379554) as proof. Along with co-inventor Andreas D. Schuyler, they developed a new concept for the platform tennis paddle. The patent, filed on August 24 1981 and issued on April 12, 1983, described an improved platform tennis paddle constructed “with two outer laminated ply structures and inner laminated ply structure there between. The inner laminated ply structure has a central aperture there through which, in the preferred embodiment, is filled with a resilient plug. The edge of the paddle is protected by a T-shaped molding fitted in to the perimeter of the paddle, and to safeguard against de-lamination, the handle is of pegged construction.” The patent was assigned to Skymar Corporation, and Rich and Andreas built the racquet, Skymar Proflight, in a garage in Alle[...]
Read MoreIn May, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow hosted the 9th annual Eastern Hemisphere Platform Tennis Championships between U.S. Embassies Warsaw and Moscow. The competition began in 1975 and had become a fixture in the spring plans of both Embassies. The results of the previous eight meetings showed Moscow with seven wins against a lone victory by Embassy Warsaw in 1981.
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The club hosted the Men’s 45+ Nationals, chaired by Bob Brown, and awards were presented to 38 FMTC members who had won National Championships. The fact that entries had to be 45 years old or over seemed to give the gallery more empathy for the players, especially in the tense finals, won by Dick Squires and Bill Mimnaugh after tiebreakers in each of the three sets. Although it was disappointing not to have Fox Meadow finalists, many spectators felt the match was one of the most exciting ones they'd ever watched. As former APTA President Cecil J. (Mike) North, Jr. of Bedford Golf and Tennis Club wrote in the program for an earlier Nationals: "As platform tennis attracts greater numbers of players, expands geographically, and becomes increasingly money-oriented, I think it is important to remember why people played it in the first place: because it is informal, because it is fu[...]
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In less than three month's play during the 1983-84 season, 50 APTA tournaments were staged. Mixed, 45s, Bs, and men's and women's ranking events were all seeing larger draws and the return of post-play parties.
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